CUMBERLAND, R.I. (WPRI) — If this summer’s powerful heat keeps up, it could soon mean warm, humid days for Rhode Island students trying to start the school year. But installing air-conditioning units is expensive when students are usually not in schools during the hottest months. The Rhode Island Department of Education’s Meg Geoghegan said they don’t closely track how many Rhode Island school buildings have air conditioning. But in Cumberland, Blackstone Valley Prep’s high school recently installed an alternative she said schools may wish to consider: a de-humidification system, which uses less electricity. “If you’re in a classroom built 100 years ago that doesn’t have air cooling, you’re going to be hot and miserable, and all you’re going to be thinking about is how to cool off. You’re not going to be thinking about the algebra problem on the wall, the chemistry experiment you’re supposed to be doing,” Jeremy Chiappetta, the CEO of Blackstone Valley Prep, said Wednesday. “Our kids need and deserve great educational spaces to learn in. Thinking about the comfort of a cool space is important.” Blackstone Valley Prep is scheduled to start the school year Aug. 27.
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